This was undoubtedly the ultimate fireworks show, extravagant to the very end.
Using ultra-pure Mana Stones worth hundreds of thousands of Imperial gold coins as fuel, Headmaster Sorgana's own collection of legendary eight-ring Arcana items as decoration, and Eden Royal Arcana Academy's painstakingly crafted magical dungeon as the staging ground—with its fuse being ritual alchemy bombs from the black market, five Imperial coins for three plus one free and free shipping.
Not even the bomb's inventor could have imagined such catastrophic results. The explosion of Mist Castle was so immense that it scattered the ever-present fog surrounding Misty Valley. Every student participating witnessed the spectacle—especially the moment surviving treasures, overlooked by Linen's group, fell like meteors from the sky.
"Heh, barely passable." Linen crossed his arms, quite pleased with his work. He scanned the castle ruins once more, spreading out his enhanced mental perception, and found no trace of that vile black slime—nothing was left, not even dust.
Elena's eyes were filled with stars. To a commoner, fireworks were luxury goods, and seeing such a magnificent display up close was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Even Novie's icy expression thawed slightly, quietly stealing glances at Linen's back, her thoughts unreadable.
Meanwhile, Hysteria was practically bouncing with excitement:
"I've seen the truth! Art truly is an explosion!!"
"Forget dimensional slashes and death-finger curses—nothing beats a bigger fireball, a bigger blast!"
Though the princess had seen fireworks plenty of times before, she'd never had the joy of personally blowing up a castle at close range. Hysteria seemed to have awakened a strange new interest.
"But—" The princess flicked her crimson twin-tails and glanced curiously at Linen. "Didn't you want the Spring Cup? With an explosion this huge, can you still find it?"
Hearing this, Linen's mighty frame shook slightly, falling silent.
Oh right, he thought blankly. His earlier focus had entirely been on obliterating the fifth-tier Earl's body, carefully stacking bombs to ensure instant destruction.
Though he'd confirmed the Spring Cup itself wouldn't be destroyed by the blast, nobody said it wouldn't be blown away!
At that moment, Elena timidly raised her hand:
"Um, actually… Linen hinted to me earlier, so I marked the Spring Cup's location beforehand."
"He did? That guy actually thought that far ahead?" Hysteria was shocked.
I did?!
Linen turned to look at Elena, who bashfully smiled back at him, quickly averting her eyes.
The girl took out a compass-shaped artifact from her spatial ring and explained:
"I crafted this artifact myself. It can track the general direction of marked items or people just by inputting mana."
She injected mana into the compass. After violent shaking, the needle suddenly stopped—pointing directly toward Linen.
Novie's gaze sharpened instantly. Linen, too, raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Ah! Sorry, small error—I need to recalibrate it." Elena hurriedly pulled back the compass, blushing furiously.
How could I forget? Previously, I'd set the compass to track Linen himself!
Now everyone will misunderstand me as some strange girl secretly marking male classmates, obsessively monitoring his every move, feeling restless when he's out of sight, and feverish when he's close by!
After switching the compass mode back to item-tracking, Elena placed it once again between them.
This time, the needle spun wildly at first, circling several times before shakily settling into a clear direction, gradually stabilizing—pointing toward the castle ruins.
Elena sighed with relief. Now the reaction was normal. Artifact trackers worked based on residual energy signatures; since the Spring Cup had been in the castle so long, it naturally pointed there first. Next, it should locate the cup's current position.
As if sensing the girl's thoughts, the needle abruptly swung around again—firmly pointing straight at Linen once more.
Elena: Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"W-wait, I can explain—!" Elena panicked at her companions' increasingly strange looks.
"Heh, I get it now. Elena, you don't need to explain anymore…" Linen waved dismissively, acting as if he'd heard enough.
"Huh?!" Elena internally wailed in despair. It's over—I'm permanently branded as the creepy stalker-girl!
"Since the compass is pointing at me, it means the Spring Cup must've landed somewhere behind me, right?" Linen's eyes glinted mischievously—clearly, he'd deliberately teased Elena.
"Yes! Exactly!" Elena sighed with relief again. She realized he had noticed but deliberately helped cover for her. This guy… he's too kind.
She was now more certain than ever: Linen truly wasn't like any noble she'd met before!
After confirming the cup's direction, the four followed its trail. They thought it would take time, yet within just a few steps, they spotted the gleaming golden Spring Cup hanging prominently from a nearby tree branch.
"Weird. With that blast radius, I thought the Spring Cup would've been blown much farther away—it's right here!" Hysteria was startled. As an expert in Fire Arcana, this didn't match her expectations.
"Right, it doesn't look blasted away. More like someone tossed it here," Elena added thoughtfully.
Linen stayed quiet, simply stepping forward and silently gazing at the golden cup. He vaguely guessed how it avoided the explosion.
It seems good people still exist.
"This should count as passing, right? I've survived one of the greatest life-threatening crises of this life—my Empress Mother's test."
Touching the magic-crafted chalice, Linen felt immense relief.
Since transmigrating, he'd always acted confidently—especially when farming negative affection points—but inside, he'd secretly been anxious as hell.
Because, beneath his bravado, he knew all he did relied on leveraging his imperial identity. Without being a prince, he was merely ridiculously handsome, gifted at artifact creation, masterful in dual-element fusion Arcana, incredibly charismatic, receiving special attention from Gust and Sorgana, secretly regarded as a hero by the Shadow Knights, and partnered with Diamond, the empire's largest merchant guild—just ordinary, unimpressive stuff like that.
Passing the Empress's trial meant he no longer risked becoming a mere political pawn. He'd now become a true Prince of Zijinghua—not merely symbolic, but with real power from one of the continent's strongest empires at his fingertips.
Most importantly, with imperial power backing him, Linen could now more enthusiastically prank Hysteria and Elena!
Previously, he feared making the heroines too hostile too quickly, risking losing control and triggering a yandere bad-ending. But now, with the empire as his trump card, he could safely bait their anger and then graciously compensate afterward.
With the empire behind me, how could their affection ratings not plummet?
Linen couldn't imagine how he'd possibly lose!
Forget Twelve Rings, forget the Three Sages—anyone daring to mess with him, even those high-and-mighty gods, would get their masks ripped off!
As Linen grasped the Spring Cup, a notification echoed clearly throughout the entire examination field:
[Exam has ended. Returning to Academy shortly. Participants, please confirm your rewards.]
"What? Already?"
"It's over that quickly? For real?"
Most students, bewildered by Sorgana's twisted dungeon designs, felt as if suddenly awakening from a dream, quickly speculating on who'd claimed victory.
"My bet's on Vanya from Golden Court—heard she gathered tons of elites for speed-running."
"Vanya? Stop hyping her up. It's gotta be the Arcana Court folks. They have big-shot freshmen this year—like the Northern Duke's son. Must have lots of rare items."
"Whoever won, I'm just glad to escape this hellhole."
Most contestants assumed the Arcana Court with its noble backgrounds or Golden Court with its magical prodigies had won. As for Knight Court or Newbie Court, those two existed only as filler in everyone's minds—like that fifth guy in your gaming party whom you only invited to meet minimum player requirements.
"Wa-ha-ha! Congratulations, my adorable children! You've all passed splendidly. Compared to trivial material rewards, your experiences in this tournament are life's true treasures!"
In the contestant transfer area, a rejuvenated Sorgana floated high above, arms wide open, warmly greeting students exiting teleportation circles. Most were still dazed—this year's Spring Cup ended far quicker than usual.
The first question nearly everyone asked upon greeting the headmaster was about who'd won the Spring Cup. Sorgana maintained a gracious smile, welcoming every student warmly—until she spotted him.
Linen Norton!
"Good afternoon, Headmaster Sorgana. We meet again. You look rather well."
Linen politely bowed to Sorgana.
This damn little dragon-brat still dares smile at me!
Sorgana was so furious she felt like hiccuping, but she forced out a smile she imagined looked kindly. Whatever—he'll get what's coming. The real disaster's still ahead!
"Of course, my child," Sorgana said sweetly, "Those rewards were always yours to take. A little unexpected collateral damage is nothing. Your unique way of clearing the trial truly broadened our horizons."
Beside her, the Headmaster's secretary couldn't resist a sideways glance at her boss, who was talking so cheerfully now.
But didn't you just bawl your eyes out a minute ago because your collection was blown to bits...?
"Linen Norton!"
Suddenly, an angry shout rang out from afar—it was Vanya from Golden Court, who'd long been eliminated.
The usually aloof senior approached step by step, her icy expression radiating intimidation. Students instinctively stepped aside to clear a path.
"It appears my guess wasn't wrong," Vanya spat each word sharply. "The winner of the Spring Cup can only be you!"
Her words sparked immediate uproar.
If anyone else had said the winner was a freshman, people would've instantly assumed it was a joke. But coming from Vanya, a leading contender herself, it carried significant weight.
An exaggerated gasp rang out nearby: "Oh my god! Did you hear that? The winner of the Spring Cup is from Newbie Court?!"
"No way, right? The Newbie Court that's always dead last? I was sure Vanya from Golden Court had it locked in!"
More students quickly gathered, voices filled with excitement and disbelief, quickly blocking Linen's path entirely.
At this moment, an invisible barrier of shimmering arcane light suddenly appeared around the crowd. Floating sternly midair was Headmaster Sorgana, her fingers wrapped in silvery Arcana glow.
"Enough, children! The Spring Cup ends here. Linen Norton legally and fairly secured the Cup and ended the competition early—this is the final verdict. Do you understand clearly? No twists or turns! Linen Norton, freshman of the Newbie Court. Memorize this clearly!"
"If you have grievances, address them properly through formal channels, not by causing chaos here!"
After Sorgana's public declaration, the students finally began to calm down.
Hysteria leaned over to whisper oddly to Elena, "That shorty Headmaster didn't pick a fight with us? I thought she'd still hold a grudge about us blowing up her collection and the castle."
Elena could only force an awkward smile, "The Headmaster is an important person after all; surely she has some dignity."
However, Linen knew better. Headmaster Sorgana was definitely holding a grudge.
This time, though, she'd learned from experience—no longer resorting to embarrassing him publicly with petty tricks. Instead, she cleverly highlighted that he prematurely ended the competition, deliberately placing him under public scrutiny.
Vanya's accusations and the other students' disbelief undoubtedly heightened those sentiments.
Sorgana hid her smirk behind her palm.
Of course, she'd anticipated all this chaos.
Students had been fully engrossed in the Spring Cup, happily hunting treasures dropped from the castle, only for Linen to forcibly end the competition early.
Could they not feel frustrated being left hanging like this?
As for Vanya—needless to say, she'd been confident this championship was hers, only for Linen to snatch it away last-second. How could she not be angry?!
Although Eden Academy forbade Arcana use in the main building, duels weren't prohibited.
Sorgana was already imagining Linen drowning in challenges every single day from now on—
And Vanya would be the first!
However, Linen, fully aware of what she intended, didn't react at all.
He simply didn't need to.
Suddenly, Vanya lightly punched Linen's chest, then turned away abruptly.
"Well done."
Vanya waved casually over her shoulder, walking off.
Sorgana: ???
Yet this was just the beginning. After a brief stunned pause, the remaining crowd surged forth even more enthusiastically, lifting Linen into the air:
"Who's the real hero here?!"
"It's gotta be Linen Norton! I nearly died from those sadistic challenges! You're my idol!!"
"Newbie Court rules!"
"Let me touch Prince Linen's soft little hands too! Haa haa, so soft and fragrant!"
Sorgana stood petrified on the spot.
This isn't how I imagined things would go…?
Helplessly tossed around by the cheering crowd, Linen smiled faintly.
True, the Headmaster had become smarter this time, not using low-level tactics to make things difficult for him. But she'd clearly underestimated exactly what he'd accomplished.
The Spring Cup might be pure torture for freshmen, but for older students it was usually a golden opportunity to grab treasures and run.
Yet under Sorgana's arrangements, this year's Spring Cup had become the most torturous in history.
Freshmen and veterans alike were driven mad by her totally randomized, twisted trials—most regretted signing up entirely.
Some students, despairing at the thought of enduring this torment for two or three more days, were already questioning their lives.
Thus, Linen ending the competition early wouldn't turn him into a scapegoat.
Instead, he became a hero to most students. Anyone trying to challenge him now was basically making an enemy out of half the school.
I've tricked the Headmaster so many times, yet she keeps helping me out.
Repaying evil with good—what an outstanding Headmaster!
Good people truly do outnumber bad ones, Linen sincerely thought.
Now that the Spring Cup had concluded, it was time to clear things up with Novie.
He turned toward where the four had arrived together but saw only Hysteria and Elena standing there, both with complicated expressions.
Though one looked somewhat disgruntled and the other comforted, both were clearly relieved for Linen.
But seeing only two of them, Linen's relaxed expression gradually turned serious.
Strange... Four of us left the dungeon together, so why are there only three people here?
Novie…where did she go?
At that moment, in a secluded corner of the academy.
Thin strands of dark mist coiled silently around the sword's hilt, but the girl holding it seemed completely unaware.
She gently stretched her wrist, her expression shifting from weary to icy indifference.
"Luckily, my contract with this child wasn't completely severed yet. Otherwise, that explosion really would've sent me straight to the afterlife."
"It cost me dearly to maintain our contract and temporarily occupy this body."
"If I don't achieve enough this time, it'll truly be a massive loss."
A vicious look flashed across the "Black-Robed Mage's" face, twisted with a cold sneer:
"But that hardly matters. These mere students could never detect my presence. Before I go, I might as well leave Eden Academy with a parting gift they'll never forget."
Thinking of the man who'd blown up his original vessel, the black-robed mage clenched his teeth furiously:
"The Spring Cup's winner, huh? …You're next, Linen Norton!"